As Toyota dealers near Glendale, CA, we love sharing news about our brand in an effort to better serve our many valuable customers. Toyota is active in the community, now more than ever, with a program that awards cash prizes for tribal college and university projects in environmental sustainability and engineering.

The most notable aspect of this particular Toyota STEM Award program is the fact that it goes specifically toward tribal colleges or universities, like this year’s winners – Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute (SIPI), IIisagvik College, Sitting Bull College, and Fort Peck Community College. SIPI, the top winning school, incorporates hands-on and intergenerational learning in its STEM programs and research as graduate students mentor undergraduates, undergraduates mentor high school students, and so on under the guidance of elders.

Through SIPI’s STEM programs, more Native Americans are enrolling in and persisting in STEM fields than ever. Their project for the Toyota award involves the impact of climate change on watershed areas in the Southwest; ecological research on plants and animals in biome transition zones; studying and forecasting the future of drylands; and research, education and outreach on the reactivity of abandoned uranium mine waste in New Mexico.

The other schools focused on topics including microbes in tundra soil, oil development at the Standing Rock Reservation, and robotics programs. The four schools took home a combined award of over $45,000 to put toward future programs at the college level, as well as in local high schools.

If you’d like more information or to take a test drive in a new or preowned Toyota car, simply search “Toyota La Crescenta” and you’ll find our dealership. We look forward to helping you with vehicle sales, service, and more today.